Abstract: Assuming that neutrinos are Majorana particles, we perform a complete classification of all possible mixing matrices which are fully determined by residual symmetries in the charged-lepton and neutrino mass matrices. The classification is based on the assumption that the residual symmetries originate from a finite flavour symmetry group. The mathematical tools which allow us to accomplish this classification are theorems on sums of roots of unity. We find 17 sporadic cases plus one infinite series of mixing matrices associated with three-flavour mixing, all of which have already been discussed in the literature. Only the infinite series contains mixing matrices which are compatible with the data at the 3 sigma level.

Abstract: We present a lattice QCD computation of the b-quark mass, the B and B-s decay constants, the B-mixing bag parameters for the full four-fermion operator basis as well as determinations for xi and f(Bq) root B-i((q)) extrapolated to the continuum limit and to the physical pion mass. We used N-f = 2 twisted mass Wilson fermions at four values of the lattice spacing with pion masses ranging from 280 to 500 MeV. Extrapolation in the heavy quark mass from the charm to the bottom quark region has been carried out on ratios of physical quantities computed at nearby quark masses, exploiting the fact that they have an exactly known infinite mass limit. Our results are m(b)(m(b), (MS) over bar) = 4.29(12) GeV, f(Bs) = 228(8) MeV, f(B) = 189(8) MeV and f(Bs)/f(B) = 1.206(24). Moreover with our results for the bag-parameters we find xi = 1.225(31), B-1((s))/B-1((d)) = 1.01(2), f (Bd) root(B) over cap ((d))(1) = 216(10) MeV and integral Bs root(B) over cap ((s))(1) = 262(10) MeV. We also computed the bag parameters for the complete basis of the four-fermion operators which are required in beyond the SM theories. By using these results for the bag parameters we are able to provide a refined Unitarity Triangle analysis in the presence of New Physics, improving the bounds coming from B-(s) -(B) over bar ((s)) mixing.

Abstract: A search for the neutral Higgs bosons predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is performed on data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The samples used for this search were collected in 2012 and correspond to integrated luminosities in the range 19.5-20.3 fb(-1). The MSSM Higgs bosons are searched for in the tau tau final state. No significant excess over the expected background is observed, and exclusion limits are derived for the production cross section times branching fraction of a scalar particle as a function of its mass. The results are also interpreted in the MSSM parameter space for various benchmark scenarios.

Abstract: The results of a search for top squark (stop) pair production in final states with one isolated lepton, jets, and missing transverse momentum are reported. The analysis is performed with proton-proton collision data at root s = 8 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2012 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb(-1). The lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is taken to be the lightest neutralino which only interacts weakly and is assumed to be stable. The stop decay modes considered are those to a top quark and the LSP as well as to a bottom quark and the lightest chargino, where the chargino decays to the LSP by emitting a W boson. A wide range of scenarios with different mass splittings between the stop, the lightest neutralino and the lightest chargino are considered, including cases where the W bosons or the top quarks are off-shell. Decay modes involving the heavier charginos and neutralinos are addressed using a set of phenomenological models of supersymmetry. No significant excess over the Standard Model prediction is observed. A stop with a mass between 210 and 640 GeV decaying directly to a top quark and a massless LSP is excluded at 95% confidence level, and in models where the mass of the lightest chargino is twice that of the LSP, stops are excluded at 95% confidence level up to a mass of 500 GeV for an LSP mass in the range of 100 to 150 GeV. Stringent exclusion limits are also derived for all other stop decay modes considered, and model-independent upper limits are set on the visible cross-section for processes beyond the Standard Model.

Abstract: A search for the b (b) over bar decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson is performed with the ATLAS experiment using the full dataset recorded at the LHC in Run 1. The integrated luminosities used are 4.7 and 20.3 fb(-1) from pp collisions at root s = 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. The processes considered are associated (WIZ)H production, where W -> e nu/mu nu, Z -> ee/mu mu, and Z -> nu nu. The observed (expected) deviation from the backgroundonly hypothesis corresponds to a significance of 1.4 (2.6) standard deviations and the ratio of the measured signal yield to the Standard Model expectation is found to be μ= 0.52 +/- 0.32 (stat.) +/- 0.24 (syst.) for a Higgs boson mass of 125.36 GeV. The analysis procedure is validated by a measurement of the yield of (W/Z)Z production with Z -> b (b) over bar in the same final states as for the Higgs boson search, from which the ratio of the observed signal yield to the Standard Model expectation is found to be 0.74 +/- 0.09 (stat.) +/- 0.14 (syst.).